Designing your Kanban Board to Map your Process

February 26, 2014

Chris Hefley, CEO, LeanKit

Need help mapping your process?

Introductions

Review: Kanban

1.Visualize your work2.Limit your Work-in-Process (WIP)

This definition comes from the book Personal Kanban, by Jim Benson and Tonianne de Maria Barry

Review: The Kanban Method

4 Basic Principles:1. Start with what you do now2. Agree to pursue incremental, evolutionary change3. Respect the current process, roles, responsibilities and titles4. Encourage acts of leadership at all levels

The Kanban Method was developed by David J. Anderson

Review: The Kanban Method5 Core Properties1. Visualize the Workflow2. Limit WIP3. Manage Flow4. Make Process Policies Explicit5. Improve Collaboratively

What Process To Model?

The Team

A Rule of Thumb

• Cards are often Nouns(or noun phrases)

• Lanes on the board are often Verbs(or verb phrases)

Grammar is fun!

Another Way to Put It

Cards: The Things that have value, that the team delivers.

Lanes: The Activities performed on the Things in order to deliver them.

Start With What You Do Now

• Map the process collaboratively, as an exercise for the entire team

• Resist the urge to re-engineer or make improvementsto the process

Just start with what you do now

Exercise: Discovering Work-in-Process

5 Minutes:On a sheet of paper, write down 5-10 things that you’re currently working on.

Exercise: Discovering Work-in-Process

10 Minutes:For each item of WIP you wrote down,answer the following questions:

1. What type of work is it?2. Where is it now?3. Where was it just before I got it?4. Where will it go when I’m done with it?

(Try doing this exercise in pairs)

What type of work is it?

• Project• Deliverable• User Story• Task• Request• Ticket• Defect• Feature• Test• Campaign• Requirement• White Paper• Landing Page These eventually become your card types

Where is it now?

I’m working on it, so I’d say it’s

In Development

I’ve finished it, but it hasn’t been tested yet, so I’d say it’s

Waiting for Testing

Where was it just before I got it?

Susan, the business analyst, had it before me. So, I’d say it was

Done with Analysis,but not yet started in

Development.

Where will it go when I’m done with it?

When I’m done with it, it’ll be

Ready to Deploy

After I’m done with it, it will be

In Production

First shot at mapping your process…

Finally! Time to draw something!

To Do, Doing, and Done

Most processes boil down to some version of: To Do, Doing, and Done.

And most of the detail we are looking to model is in the Doing part.

Once we’ve started it, what steps does work go through on its way to “Done”?

Systems Thinking

Our team is a System. We succeed or fail together. Some of us are specialists, true, but we’re

still one Team.

Work Entering The System

Jeff, I’m gonna need you you to re-calibrate the unilateral phase detractors of the

RetroEncabulator, and I need it done by Monday.

Sure thing, Mr Lumbergh. Should be no problem at all.

Identify the

Source of Demand

There’s often more than one!

Work Exiting the System

Where does work go when the team is “Done” with it?

Where is it when you stop thinking about it and move on to the next thing?

Looking for Queues

“Searching for Queues”, get it? Ha! You know, because

“queues” sounds like “clues”, see?

Queues, and Who “Owns” them.

This “Done” lane is a Queue

And so is this “Ready to Deploy” “Ownership”

“Ownership”

Why does it matter who owns it?

It’s about whose WIP limit it counts against. And it defines “push” vs.

“pull”.

A Pull system helps me balance my demand against my available

throughput, and prevents major WIP from building up around my

bottlenecks.

“Ownership”

Push vs. Pull

Design is done.

I’m Pushing it into your ready queue.

You own it now.

Um…Ok.

Push vs. Pull

Design is Done.

Thanks. I’ll pull it

and start working on it when I have

capacity

Handoffs

For many teams, there are handoffs in the process where the work leaves your control.

For example, a development team where a software release must be submitted to another department for approval before release.

Ideally, you want to reduce those friction points. But until you do, call them out specifically on your kanbanboard.

Examples

Sub-LanesDon’t forget to

“Start with what you do now”. These are just examples of

how you might visually model your

current reality.

Parallel Workflows

An “Expedite” Lane across the top

Getting your WIP on the Board

Improve collaboratively

Looking for Hidden WIP

Am I working on, or waiting on, any WIP that’s not on the board?

MetricsStart with the basics:

• Total WIP• Blockers• Throughput

(Cards complete/day)

• A lane per person

Anti-Patterns

I expect each individual to perform at optimum capacity!

Kanban Pro Tip

Keeping the work moving is much more important than keeping the workers busy.

Multiple Value Streams

• What if we’re not really “one team”?

Start with What you Do Now

Pursue Incremental, Evolutionary Change

Questions?

• Should you map more than once process on the same board?

• What level of granularity is suitable when dealing with large, complex workflows?

• What’s your opinion on using a web-based board vs. a physical board?

• Can Kanban be incorporated into a non-Agile workplace?

Next Steps

• Give it a try – and remember you don’t have to get it 100% right.

• We’ll be sending you some additional resources to help you get started:

– Blog post by Jim Benson, co-author of Personal Kanban

– Short video on how to modify your board in LeanKit so that it reflects the steps in your process

Designing your Kanban board to map your process

Thanks!Claire.george@leankit.com

Chris.Hefley@leankit.com